Music
08 Oct 20

Album Review: The Neighbourhood - ‘Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones’

On September 25, California based band, The Neighbourhood came out with their fourth studio album.

California based rock band, The Neighbourhood dropped their fourth studio album Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones on September 25.

The Neighbourhood has taken on multiple music genres throughout their time. Hard to Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing, the band's fourth album in 2018 can be seen as a declaration - a choice to stick with a sound that fans grew to know.

Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones again prove the band's ability to deliver their iconic dream-like coastal ambiance. Jesse Rutherford, the band’s lead singer, roleplayed his Chip Chrome persona on social media months before the album’s release - a silver-painted man zipped in a chrome bodysuit.

'Pretty Boy,' the album’s top hit contender, is the second track of the project's 11 songs. The song is a romantic ballad for the modern. The Neighbourhood is a shoo-in for electric piano love songs layered with dreamy lyrics. Chip Chrome is the pretty boy of new-age indie - paving a way for the band to further elongate its time in the alternative music spotlight.

One of the album’s best jams, 'Lost in Translation' begins with a jazz ensemble and then jumps right into the upbeat pop chorus. It sticks out on the album for its playful production and relatable lyrics about being misunderstood in a relationship.

Tying the tracklist together is its final song, 'Middle of Somewhere,' a folk tuned song dedicated to the prison of one's own mind. The entire album brings to question if Rutherford's Chip Chrome phase was a way of saying he's mentally stuck in the middle of somewhere. The album ends like a movie without any distinct finale - he doesn't know what his next direction in life will be and is currently trying to find it.